Charlotte Westby challenged her students

If you were a high school student at West or Southwest high schools in Minneapolis, where Charlotte Westby of Minneapolis taught for about 35 years, you may have been a little fearful on the first day in her classroom.

But if you took her demanding classes in English and the humanities, it would have been your gain, say former students.

"She pushed you to take risks intellectually, and as a young kid to really go places with your thinking where you hadn't been before," said Wiz Wyatt of Edina, who was one of her students in 1970 and 1971.

Westby, 86, died of cancer on Nov. 16 in Minneapolis.

Wyatt said Westby was tough, but she helped students not to be sensitive to criticism of their intellectual efforts. "It was a toughness that was heartfelt, and it was for your benefit."

As a child, Westby was stricken with polio, leaving her with a withered arm. She grew up on a farm in Bath, S.D., and attended high school in Aberdeen, S.D., living away from home during the school week.

She and her family worked hard during the Depression in the 1930s, so she and her brothers could attend college.

She moved to the Twin Cities to attend the University of Minnesota, earning a master's degree in education in 1952. She joined the faculty of the old West High School in Minneapolis, where she taught for most of her career.

Lisa Bormann of Minneapolis said they read literature more often seen in college classrooms. But when students completed Westby's class, they could write concisely and were prepared to do research papers in college.

She led her students to examine all sides of ideas, and she taught with passion. She was "kind of fierce," probably seeming bigger than her 5-foot frame, said Bormann, who took a class from her in the early 1970s. "It was never dull."

For all of Westby's fierceness, she was on her students' side, and she could often be seen after school helping students who had trouble with the material, said Bormann.

Her niece, Rahn Westby of St. Paul, said "she was feisty but fun" and, despite her polio, she was the "best baseball player."

After West High closed in 1982, Westby moved to Southwest High School, retiring in 1987.

She is survived by her brother, F. Orval Westby of Minneapolis; seven nephews and two nieces.